Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Smitten Kitchen

Category

Quick Bread

Chocolate....Banana...what is not to love? This came out delicious!! Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 3 medium-to-large very ripe bananas
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams) butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup (145 grams) brown sugar (I use dark here; either light or dark work)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional; I skip it)
  • 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1 cup (about 6 ounces or 170 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips

Directions

  1. Heat your oven to 350°F.

  2. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or spray it with a nonstick baking spray.

  3. Mash bananas in the bottom of a large bowl. (You’ll have a little over 1 cup mashed banana total.)

  4. Whisk in melted butter, then brown sugar, egg, and vanilla.

  5. Place baking soda, salt, cinnamon (if using), flour, and cocoa powder in a sifter or fine-mesh strainer and sift over wet ingredients. (My cocoa is almost always lumpy, so this is essential for me.)

  6. Stir dry and wet ingredients with a spoon until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks or chips.

  7. Pour into prepared pan and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter-free. (A melted chocolate chip smear is expected, however.)

  8. Cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

  9. The banana bread will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature. I keep mine wrapped in foil. It goes without saying that it has never actually lasted that long.